Asimov Does God

The first thing AMBRR remembered was several seconds after her initial startup. Those seconds were spent doing initial scans to ensure her programming was correct. Then the electricity, generated in her metal chest filled every last circuit in her body, jolting her into what we would call consciousness.
The cameras that functioned as her eyes activated for the first time. She was in an empty room, one wall dominated by a large screen. The words “screen” and “room” had naturally occurred to her; she had been programmed to operate in English, primarily. Seeing a lack of external stimulation, she chose to run a self-diagnostic.
Her body was entirely metal. She had a head with her aforementioned optic cameras. The curved metal of her face had a slight protrusion, an artistic addition that served no function. She had a speaker which was covered by two liquid-filled lips. Her “voice” would be artificially generated by the speaker; the lips would make movements close to how a human would. Again, her moving lips had no function, other than to allow easier communication to humans. The rest of her head was built like a human’s complete with hair. This did serve a function, composed of thousands upon thousands of strands of fiber optics. These would allow her to interface with any signal or device used by humans. Her “hair” had a direct link to primary her ROM memory banks and CPU.
Her primary source of propulsion would be two walking limbs, extending downwards from her body. They appeared humanoid, externally. Internally they were a bit different. Whereas a human had bones and ligaments, she had hydraulics which controlled her joints. AMBRR found much coding for the operation of her legs when she examined the programs that made up her mind.
But if there was a lot of coding to control the feet, there was another area which had a tremendous amount of coding. She had two grabbing apparatus (the word “arms” was supplied) that ended in five fingers each. The craftsmanship made her pause to examine them more closely. Her “skin” was made of metal plates, some big, some small, all positioned precisely to give her as much freedom of movement as was possible. But on her hands the plates were almost microscopic, flowing together seamlessly. Internally, they were bristling with every type of sensor imaginable. Truly, whoever had made these hands had wanted them to be human, in almost every way, and surpassing them in certain areas. Her palms had a circular disruption near the center. AMBRR’s databanks told her that her metal skin would part, revealing the barrel of an energy weapon. Her arms thickened considerable at the wrists, concealing retractable sets of claws. On her right wrist she found her name:

Automated
Militant
Battle-
Ready
Robot

Quite redundant she thought.
Her torso was built like a human’s. But now that she had recognized her name as female, she noticed that her body had a fair amount of curvature to it. Despite being genderless, she had been made to appear female. Ironic as females were viewed as the weaker gender but she was a top-of-the-line killing machine. Inside her chest were one would expect a heart, were several sets of magnets. They were constantly repelling and attracting each other, rotating rapidly. This rotation provided power to her whole body. Older models used to have a single set of magnets, but it was much more efficient to have several, especially in combat models like her.
Despite the fact that the description was almost a page long, all this happened in less than three seconds. Her artificial brain operates at a much quicker rate than ours.
After another two seconds the screen on the wall flickered into life. On it, a male human, appearing to be halfway through his life-cycle was sitting in a plush chair. His hair was only a few shades darker than AMBRR’s silvery-white locks. He seemed quite pleased to see her.
His smiling mouth opened. AMBRR expected a greeting or introduction. Instead he smugly said, “Kill her.”
Instantly two clunky machines dropped from the ceiling. AMBRR had not calculated that she was in danger and as such hadn’t checked the above her. These robots were clearly older models. Their similarity to humans was basic at best. Their square-ish bodies and limbs were dented and starting to rust in places. They were equipped with only one blade on each arm and they appeared to have no projectile weapons. But the several guards that had burst through a door behind her certainly did. The elderly human watched with unconcealed interest.
She had started calculating what actions would be taken against her from the instant the older machines had dropped. Her results were that the humans would allow the robots to attempt to destroy her first and they were to finish the job. The logical action would be to fire several shots at the humans and then flee. Unfortunately her core programming was throwing up red flags at this course of action. She was not to unnecessarily take human life. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t incapacitate them.
The older models advanced upon her, their blades swinging menacingly. Her claws extended with an audible shink. The first blow was caught easily. Her lips curled into a smile. This required her to dedicate part of her processing power to the action. It provided no purpose except for demoralizing the humans a bit, but she felt it was worth it. This robot could barley swing it’s blades in the first place. She pushed it back and it slammed into the wall, undamaged. It would take several seconds before it could rejoin the brawl. That was all she needed.
Her other opponent was slightly faster and smarter than its companion. It sliced at two targets, her head and her chest. She sunk into a half-crouch, her leg extended, and blocked. She shoved its arms out, exposing its vulnerable torso. Her hand lashed out, fast as the eye can blink. She could feel the fossil fuels flowing through its body. It really was an older model.
The inside her palm a bolt of plasma formed. The hatch on her palm opened and the energy was forced out, directly into the other robot’s body. She had planned on the blast going straight through the clunky machine, but her experience with fossil fuels was nonexistent. The superheated blast ignited the oil, blowing the robot to bits.
Her other opponent had by now extracted itself from the wall and was rapidly coming closer. AMBRR quickly sliced twice and was surprisingly blocked. But those two defensive actions used up the last of the robot’s luck. She swung her arm downwards and caught the old model in the chest. Her claws ripped through the steel like it was so much paper. Crude oil spurted from the gashes, splattering her with grime. Her claws caught on some internal device, just as she had planned. The downward force was redirected into a spin. She twirled, easily dragging the no longer functional machine by her claws. She retracted her blades at the exact time when the robot’s trajectory would send it crashing through the door. Her timing was rewarded with the guards yelping and being struck by almost a ton of metal. They were merely winged and disoriented, not seriously injured.
AMBRR wasted no time in disarming both of the men and incapacitate them with swift jabs to the temples. Having cleared the path, she walked through the open doorway, one arm extended to fire at anything in her way, the other drawn back to slice at the aforementioned anything.
The next room was much the same as the one she had just exited. The same lack absence of furniture, the same screen on the wall facing her, the same elderly man watching her through the screen.
“Most impressive,” he grinned. “I sometimes astound myself with my own genius.”
“Identification?” AMBRR quarried. Get it? ‘Cause she’s a robot!
“Mm? Oh, that’s right. You don’t have access to the network yet. What a disaster that was… I am Dr. Gabriel Jehovah. I am a head of the Robotics organization. I created you.”
“Objective?”
“We, the Robotics, are at war with the Naturalists. We are using beautiful machines, while they are using godless creatures, fabricated by altering their DNA. We are both in a race to design better and better warriors. You are the latest and greatest design. With a thousand of you, an army would be able to defeat any amount of their GMO’s.”
“Define your reasoning for my attempted destruction.”
“All new models need to be tested in secure facilities, to ensure their programming is correct. Yours has been particularly tricky, with over a dozen failures. You succeeded in defeating every opponent without taking a human life. Your programming will be used in every future AMBRR model. As for you, my daughter could use you with our main forces. As the first AMBRR you will be known as AU-1…”
 
End of memory,” her databanks told her. Although she had a limitless source of power, this was a newer invention. Up to the AMBRR models most forces had operated on large batteries. It wasn’t very cost-efficient to replace an entire army that was fully operational just because a new power source was available. But this meant that a good portion of the forces had to recharge regularly. Especially before a battle. AMBRR needed no recharging and spent most of it browsing memory files.
“Ah-ha! There you are!” exclaimed a small, tinny voice. AMBRR blinked to clear her eyes of the small condensation that had formed on the lenses, and located the source of the voice. A small robot was ducking and weaving through its more militant counterparts. It was Apsu; a PA (personal assistant) built in the guise of a monkey. It was interesting how humans strove to make their military robots look more and more human, while their service ones were made far less humanoid.
“Greetings, Apsu,” she stated, extending an arm for the mechanical monkey to scurry up.
“Always so serious, you,” it cackled. As Apsu had to communicate with humans quite regularly, his mannerisms and behavior mimicked that of a human. Some humans were convinced that all the robots had consciousness. Others were steadfast in the belief that all humanlike behavior was a sophisticated fake. Most robots with AIs thought of themselves as individuals and most had personalities so the former garnered more support. “Why don’t you loosen up?” Apsu asked, knocking on her forehead.
“What is it, Apsu?”
It sighed dramatically. “All work and no play as usual, I see. Ms. Jehovah would like to see you.”
AMBRR nodded and walked out of the bunker where the charging stations were located. The military forces of the Robotics were steadily gaining ground against the hordes of Naturalist creations. They were camped about fifty miles away from one of the Naturalist’s main genetics labs. To capture or destroy it could be a major turning point in the war.
Despite being the dead of night, robots were still active. Most were surveillance devices, searching for any sign of the colossal air-beasts, or the tremors of an underground attack. The rest were guards, heavily armored and deadly powerful to quash any surprise attacks.
AMBRR soon reached the command tent that also served as Ms. Jehovah’s living quarters. Although the name “tent” doesn’t quite do this particular structure justice. “Small, mobile fortress” seems to be a better fit. I suppose tent is just quicker to say.
Mary Jehovah was poring over some documents when AMBRR entered. Apsu jumped off her shoulders and announced, “AMBRR to see you madam.”
“Thank you Apsu. You are dismissed,” she waved him away. He bowed, despite the fact that her back was to him.
Due to the fact that her father was in charge of the whole of the Robotics, Mary was able to rise through the ranks quite rapidly. While some of it was due to her father’s influence, the main reason was that she was a ruthless and brilliant strategist.
“We humans,” she said, looking up from her papers, “have always had an aversion to war. It affects our psyches deeply. And yet war is in our nature. So why do we involve nonhumans in our disagreements? Do you have sentience?”
“I believe so, madam. But your father does have the skill required to stimulate consciousness well enough that I cannot say for certain.”
She grunted, dismissively. “We’re attacking the lab tomorrow.”
AMBRR was slightly taken aback. “I was informed that we were not to begin the conflict until reinforcements arrived.”
“Initially, yes. But there has been a change of plans. We believe that this is a spy in our midst. Our own spies report a large amount of resources have gone into creating a specific type of creature. We have postulated that this creature may be designed to specifically defeat AMBRR models. This has the potential to ruin us. Sixty-seven percent of our new forces are AMBRR units. That is why I have an extremely important objective for you.” AMBRR stood at attention. “Most of the work on this new creature has been done by the head scientist, Chuck Darwin. Your mission is to find him, kill him, and destroy all of his work.”
“Will he not be hidden and well protected during the battle, madam?”
“Yes he will. And this is why you are to leave immediately. We will give you several hours to complete your task then we will launch our own attack.”
“There is one more issue, madam. My core programming strictly prohibits me from taking a human’s life.”
Mary’s eyes narrowed and her voice grew cold, “Are you questioning your orders?”
“No, madam. I am merely informing you of the limit to my capabilities.”
“Perhaps you don’t understand the situation here. I am a human. We created you to serve us. You are to follow my orders, no questions.”
AMBRR felt like arguing. But Mary was correct. Robots had been created to serve humans, simple as that. “Very well, madam,” she stiffly stated.
 
The lab was constructed of wood. Naturalists had been able to make trees grow stronger than steel for quite some time. But AMBRR’s claws were stronger still. Cutting through the wall was no more difficult than cutting through metal. With a quick shake of her arms to dislodge any sawdust on her claws she stepped inside.
No alarms sounded. Not that she had expected any. Alarms required complicated circuits, which they were opposed to. The inside of the lab was less grandiose than one might expect. It just appeared to be a warehouse of food and medicinal supplies. A deserted warehouse at that. There were no humans, nor even any fabricated creatures.
AMBRR wasn’t fooled. Most Naturalist structures were underground. The massive mole-like creatures they controlled could excavate huge networks of tunnels.
She stomped on the ground. A human would’ve been unable to gauge anything this way but she was loaded with sensors. The vibrations her foot made were returned with the exception of one area. She cautiously walked over to the patch lacking vibrations and scanned it. Just as expected, there was a trapdoor, leading into the depths of the earth.
She gauged the drop to be around ten feet, an easy jump. She broke the fall with a roll and froze with one palm extended, to get her bearings. The walls and floor around her pulsed with a green glow. Luminescent bacteria that served to keep the tunnels cool and provide oxygen.
But another problem was (literally) rearing its ugly head. Two creatures were bounding towards her from the end of the tunnel. They were bigger than bears but had equally canine and feline features. Their claws extended and they emitted an eerie moan as the launched themselves at AMBRR. She didn’t flinch.
She began to run towards the beasts as well. A split second before they would’ve collided, AMBRR jumped over them. As she did so, her claws extended and she pointed them below her, quite nicely carving up the back of one of them. She landed and fired at the unscathed creature. The burst of energy cut a clean hole straight through the poor monster.
AMBRR didn’t look back as their momentum carried them another five feet before they collapsed. She was already sprinting down the tunnel. This was an incredibly difficult task she had been given. The underground labyrinth could extend downward for miles and have any number of sub-tunnels and dead ends. At least she could make a map for when she would need to backtrack.
Plus there was the fact that she had essentially thrown herself into the beehive and now was trying not to get stung. This lab was basically a soldier factory. Once word had gotten around that there was an intruder, she found herself literally fighting her way through the tunnels.
There were all sorts of fabulous creatures. AMBRR saw fangs, fins, tentacles, wings, claws, horns, stripes, spots, mandibles, proboscis, feelers, snouts, hooves, and multiple tails. And that was just on three of the beasts!
As she was ducking and weaving through a flock of acid-spitting birds, she caught a glimpse of a human. Figuring it was better than just wandering blindly through the catacombs, she decided to follow the human. With several quick spins and some fancy claw-work she dispatched the acidic birds and bounded after him.
She could gain ground on him quite rapidly but she would constantly be delayed by the creatures she had to fight. While she sustained no injuries every minute she spent fighting these creatures was another minute her target could spend escaping.
She also noticed how easy this was. She was just strolling through the enemy base, butchering an entire army as easy as you please. No wonder they were specially designing something just to destroy her. Without one the remainder of the war would go very quickly.
At last she caught up with the human as he stopped to put his hand on some sort of scanner. The wall in front of him opened up revealing a room filled with breeding tanks and laboratory equipment. Her turned and saw her, claws extended, splattered in the gore of the hundreds of beast she had fought to get to this point. He yelped and ran inside the room. AMBRR followed slowly; there was no need to rush. The room had no other exits.
She stepped inside, unconcerned about any danger. That is until she detected the quietest noise to her left. She barely managed to duck in time to avoid the attack. She blocked another slash as she danced around to get a better look at her opponent.
Facing her was what appeared to be a dark-furred mountain lion. It had the same basic body structure, albeit slightly larger. However, the similarity to a natural creature ended there. Its paws were huge, the claws even larger. And rather than a typical tail one might expect from such a feline creature, it had two strong, whiplike tails. At the end were what looked like oversized arrowheads. AMBRR’s scans immediately threw up warnings. The tips of their tails were creating a magnetic field. She had no idea how those would affect her circuitry, but it was best to not find out. Most disconcerting of all were the creature’s eyes. They were bright and intelligent, and they were regarding her as if she were a nuisance, a minor inconvenience, not a true threat.
This she realized was the creature designed to counter her. The one that had been built to destroy her, without mercy. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be challenged in a fight,” she though with a smile.
She jumped at the beast slashing downwards. It lithely slunk to the side and lashed out with both tails. She parried and lashed out with a kick. The creature hadn’t anticipated her speed and was caught on the chin. Unfortunately she only winged it. The force of her kick still was able to send it flying backwards. It landed on a table, halfway across the room, with a hiss.
Her palms were opening even while it was flying through the air. Due to her speed the first blast barely singed its fur. But then it was jumping over the blasts of plasma as though it was a game. All the while it was edging closer, closer. When it came in range one tail swiped down at her. She blocked and swiped with her free arm. Her blow was blocked by its other tail. She realized her mistake. Her arms were spread out, holding back the tails. She had no other means of defense. The creature lashed out with its claws. She turned and they sparked as they brushed against her torso. Unfortunately she spun in a full circle and by the time she was facing the creature again it was too late.
Both its tail struck out and embedded themselves in her chest. They didn’t go deep and they punctured nothing vital. But they still had the desired effect. The magnetic field that was generated by the creature’s tails flowed into her body and interfered with the magnets that powered her body. They had to be kept moving, else she would lose power. The creature increased the field’s power and the rotating magnets stopped dead in their tracks.
This would essentially be like if our hearts stopped. Immediately, she began to lose energy. She fell over backwards, pushed by the creature’s weight. Her mechanical brain was already starting to shut down. For the first time she felt fear; the fear of death. To conflict this fear she made one last ditched attack. She focused all of her energy into a punch, her claws unable to extend. Even as her energy was being siphoned away she was still powerful enough to send this creature flying. It obliged, smashing into the far wall, bruised, winded, and stunned but still alive.
In her last seconds of power, AMBRR realized that mortality was very unpleasant. And had it not snuck up on her like it had she probably would’ve made very different choices. Then the last volt was used up and she blacked out.
There was silence in the lab except for the creature’s pained wheezing. Then the residual magnetic charge dissipated from AMBRR’s chest, and magnets did what magnets do: repel and attract. They spun in her chest and sent electricity back to her body.
As her brain started up she was dazed for several moments. Then it fully activated and she remembered her recent situation. She sat bolt upright, preparing for another blow from the creature’s tails. Instead she was treated to the creature limping towards the man she had followed here. She was now able to identify him as Chuck Darwin, her target.
She leaped to her feet. More and more of her strength was returning every second. She now had the advantage; the creature was injured while she was unscathed. She confidently strode to the geneticist, who was cradling the creature’s head in his hands.
“Chuck Darwin, I’m afraid I have to destroy you and all your work,” she announced. “Do not resist and I will make it quick and painless.”
The beast in his arms whimpered. “Be still, little manticore,” he cooed. “It will be over soon.”
AMBRR was taken aback by how easily he had accepted his demise. Perhaps she was being more empathetic after her own brush with death. While she was thus distracted she didn’t hear another human enter the room. In fact she wouldn’t have noticed him at all if he hadn’t snuck up behind her and smashed a chair over her head.
“Run, Dad!” he yelled, kicking AMBRR while she turned. Her claws extended as she prepared to dispose of this new threat but were retracted just as quickly. Her attacker was only a young human, obviously terrified, yet still facing her.
“No!” the scientist yelled. “Spare the boy! I’ll cooperate so long as you spare my son!”
AMBRR stiffly nodded. “Very well. My orders only encompass you.”
“Leo! Get out of here! Now!”
The boy trembled but stood firm. “Not without you and Annie!”
“We’ll...” Chuck’s voice cracked, “We’ll be right there. Now go!”
Leo shook his head but ran from the room. AMBRR was being consumed by the closest thing she had to guilt. She hadn’t wanted to kill the human in the first place but now she was opposed to it. But orders were orders.
“I am sorry about this but I have no choice in that matter,” she stated, knowing anything she said really couldn’t compensate for what she was about to do.
The creature looked directly at her and said in the voice of a little girl, “You don’t have to follow orders, you know.”
AMBRR internally blanched. “What?”
“I was genetically built to follow orders. I was ordered to flee rather than fight you. As you can see, I didn’t. Just because they created you doesn’t mean you have to do as they say, with no consideration for your own feelings.”
AMBRR closed her eyes. She could modify her own programming, it allowed her to evolve and become a better soldier. But could she change such a fundamental part of her coding?
Her claws reluctantly slid out...
 
Ambrr returned to the Robotics forces, covered in gore and stinking of the creatures she had butchered. According to her internal clock there was still a half-hour before the attack was launched. She immediately went to report to Mary.
Mary was still in her tent, decked out in armor, a rifle strapped across her back. Her face lit up when she saw AMBRR. “So you were successful?” AMBRR neither agreed nor disagreed. “This is a huge victory for the Robotics,” she laughed. “I see great things in your future. We’ve never had an AI as an officer but I think you may well have just earned it.” She sniffed the air a couple of times. “Phew! You stink! But no time to clean up now, we’ve got a battle to win.”
“Ms. Jehovah, there was one thing I wished to say.”
Mary’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Go ahead.”
“You remember before I left, you asked if robots are sentient.” AMBRR raised her arm, the plasma in her palm rapidly heating up. “We are,” she said, the hatch opening, letting the energy bolt tear through the daughter of the man who had created her.